This invention is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-336163, filed Nov. 2, 2000, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a camera having the function of sensing the blurring state of the camera and informing the photographer of the camera blur.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, various types of cameras have been developed which sense the blurring state of the camera and start the exposure operation with such timing as minimizes the blur.
Still another type of camera has been developed which calculates the amount of image blur on the basis of the output of a blur sensor built in the camera, the focal length information, and information about the exposure time, compares the result of the calculation with a specific level value, and displays the camera blur.
In the camera that displays a blur, however, the relationship between the calculated amount of blur and the displayed blur is linear (or in a one-to-one ratio). Therefore, although the displayed blur is not erroneous, the sensitivity of the display may be unsatisfactory, depending on the photographer or the photographed scene.
Specifically, some photographers do not want an indication of small blurs much but do want a clearly recognizable indication of at least large blurs. Conversely, others want subtle, small blurs to be displayed in levels minutely. Such ideas and needs are expected to increase, particularly when the number of segments in the level display increases. Since the display of blurs was unable to be set arbitrarily in the prior art, the aforementioned requirements were not satisfied.
Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide a camera having a blur notifying function capable of displaying the level of blur with the sensitivity that the photographer wants.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera having a blur notifying function comprising: a sensing section which senses a blur of the camera; a computing section which computes an amount of image blur on a photographing screen on the basis of an output of the sensing section; a judging section which judges a blur level by comparing an output of the computing section with a specific value; a notifying section which notifies a blur level according to the result of the judgment at the judging section; and a specific value changing section which changes the specific value compared with the output of the computing section.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera having a blur notifying function comprising: a sensing section which senses a blur of the camera; a computing section which computes the amount of image blur on a photographing screen on the basis of an output of the sensing section; a judging section which judges a blur level by comparing an output of the computing section with a specific value; a notifying section which notifies a blur level according to the result of the judgment at the judging section; a setting section which sets the operation mode of the notifying operation at the notifying section; and a specific value changing section for changing the specific value serving as a judgment criterion, according to the operation mode set by the setting section.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.